Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Premier Sound Services (PSS) recently provided the sound reinforcement for the Miss USA Pageant, one of the country’s most widely viewed beauty contests.
The event is part of Miss Universe, which is owned by Donald Trump and was televised nationally live on NBC. As they have for previous Miss USA Pageants, PSS deployed their inventory of Harman JBL VTX line arrays to generate the best coverage and superior sound quality.
The main PA system consisted of 13 JBL VTX V25 line array loudspeakers per side in long-throw “X Mode” (35Hz high pass filter) and were powered with 24 Crown I-Tech 12000 HD and two Crown I-Tech 4×3500 HD amplifiers.
The system also featured 45-degree outfill arrays, which featured nine VTX V20 loudspeakers in long-throw 60Hz mode that were powered by six Crown I-Tech 4×3500 HD amplifiers.
On the floor, 16 bi-amped JBL SRX712M stage monitors were used with five Crown I-Tech 4×3500 HD amplifiers.
Two JBL VTX V20 loudspeakers were provided for the judges, with an additional two V20 loudspeakers per side for front fill, powered by two Crown I-Tech 4×3500 HD amplifiers.
The downstage side-fill hangs consisted of six JBL VERTEC VT4886 subcompact line array loudspeakers per side, powered by a single Crown I-Tech 4×3500 HD amplifier. The upstage side fill hangs were made up of six VT4886 loudspeakers per side, powered with one Crown I-Tech 4×3500 HD amplifier.
“Keeping the loudspeakers hidden from the camera angles as much as possible was the main challenge of this event,” said Brian Gordon, co-owner and head audio engineer of PSS. “Originally, we wanted to hang 14 units per side for the main PA, but thanks to the sheer power of the VTX Series we got the output we needed with fewer units, and we never hit the limit on any of the amplifiers.”
Gordon points out that there was no need for subwoofers for the show because intelligibility and sound cohesiveness were the key objectives.
“The VTX Series loudspeakers are superior in those areas over everything else,” he explains. “There was no interference and everything came out exactly as it should. I was especially impressed by the smoothness of the off-axis dispersion of the V20’s, which was just amazing.”
